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Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and .

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Special Features

None.

Editorial Reviews

This chilling psychological drama stars Christian Slater (True Romance, Interview with a Vampire), Molly Parker (TV's "Deadwood", The Center of the World) and Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, The End of the Affair), and tells the story of a priest who fights to clear the name of a fellow priest accused of murder only to find out that the truth will test his faith to the limit and put his only trust in the woman he let go.

Nancy Beatty - A great bitch! She's mean, but one can "feel" an underbelly of self cruelty as well.

The writing is intelligent and doesn't push the religious faction of the film at all. God and organized religion are subtexts to the main plot of the film. This type of film usually leaves the watcher with a feeling of being "Bible Thumped" for two hours. This film doesn't. It meanders through the reality of the church and it's true reality of humanism. The characters are well written and acted without the usual over dramatic scenes. This film is convoluted but it entertains. It's a drama yes, but more so an low paced action film within the genre of suspense. A great ending as well leaves you nicely entertained.

This film is entertaining. It's not overtly memorable, but it's fun and thought provoking. You'll enjoy it, once.

Some films are like spaghetti with red sauce at your favorite joint. They don't pretend to be haute cuisine, but with any luck they're filling and don't repeat on you. The Confessor fills the bill. It's tightly written, well acted and shot with no waste or indulgence. Though this film's plot and themes are provocative, it handles them without sensation and exploitation. Instead, we're given quiet thoughtful scenes peopled with believable characters.

The Confessor is kept blissfully brief, permitting only the scenes necessary to illuminate Slater's character and the mystery that's forcing him to question his self concept. This film is as much a character study as a thriller and Slater is very credible as the cleric-capitalist "hero". Fleshing out the script's sparse strokes with admirable restraint, he manages to keep us positively interested in a character that we'd otherwise disdain or disengage from.

The direction and cinematography are competent but unembellished, offering only a few poetic / artistic shots. The two that spring to mind are: the wine pouring shot with Slater and Rea, and Slater's end of day offload of his personal items. (He places his Rolex watch and Day Planner next to his Bible on the lectern in his somewhat lavish domicile.)

Unlike many films of its genre, The Confessor offers neither writhing scenes of moral agony nor bombastic out-of-character heroics. Thematically, the film permits viewers to select the polemic in which they wish to engage: the role of the church in a secular world, the role of the cleric within the church, or simply, the inevitable waning of youthful passion and what to do about it. Still, some may find this film boring, so if you're scared off by the phrase character study, then stay away from this film.

This movie did not receive good reviews because it is somewhat simplistic and it criticizes the Roman Catholic Church; but it is a fairly good drama. We are introduced to Christian Slater who is a priest who is good in handling the business ends of the church, but not its religious mission. He enjoys the riches of the church, the costly car, gold watch, expensive wines and foods. He is called by a priest of a very poor parish who is accused of murder. The priest remembers Slater from school as a man who could amount to something. In contrast to Slater, this priest is very pious, more pious even than his bishop who wants to see his case handled as quickly as possible so as not to embarrass the church, even if the priest is found guilty. The priest could prove his innocence if he would reveal a confession that he heard, but insists, despite the admonitions of Slater and his bishop, not to violate the sanctity of the confessional. Two more murders follow, and Slater, despite his inadequacies, burdened by his conscious, decides to assume the parish priest's duties, after his presumed suicide. He realizes that a pious man like the priest who refused to reveal a confession would never violate church law against suicides. Slater also refuses to obey his bishop, gives up the above-mentioned accoutrements, and goes off to solve the three murders.

I did try to be optimistic while watching this movie, but it was hard to find big redeeming qualities in it (unfortunate pun not intended).

The plot begins well enough and feels like it's building to a good old fashioned conspiracy theory, but let me clarify that it is NOT one. The ending makes this a rather conventional mystery genre piece. There isn't really even a big action scene anywhere. It's almost as if the crew originally planned to make a really gripping movie but then chickened out for some reason. Neither the plot nor the characters are remarkable. At times, the characters aren't even likeable, and I don't mean because they'll remind you of people you know or because there is a delicious puppetmaster or villain. There isn't enough development in the time the movie takes up (90 minutes really isn't sufficient time in many cases for thriller/suspense stuff, despite it being a common movie length these days).

Don't get me wrong: I can't abide really brutal mysteries, and I also appreciate more cerebral ones. This film squeaks by without a lot of on-screen blood or excessively twisted motives, and there is something admirable about that in its own way. Here is a movie you could watch late at night and not have nightmares about, and that too is admirable. I just wonder if there could be a less deceptive way to package/market this flick to reflect these somewhat gentler qualities.

The cinematography is happily devoid of unnecessary handheld camera sequences (choosing instead to use tried-and-true techniques or very simple tricks), but that also means that there isn't as much suspense as there should be for a movie which bills itself as a thriller.